Kyle Lowry wants to come back to Toronto, Masai Ujiri says
By Nam Tran
Raptors’ president Masai Ujiri is confident that Kyle Lowry wants to resign with the team in the offseason.
Many hours after a report saying that the Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry disliked the team and wanted to leave circulated, Lowry himself took to Twitter to passionately dispute the claim. He said fans shouldn’t “believe” everything they hear and that the report was “B.S.” But if you still have any concern on whether the All-Star point guard is going to leave or not, maybe the Raptors’ president, Masai Ujiri, can clear things up for you.
Speaking to the media during a scrum on Tuesday, Ujiri said that Lowry has told him that he wants to come back to Toronto.
"“He’s been a part of our organization, and he says he wants to come back,” Ujiri told the media Tuesday morning. “I know, speculation … with the article. We all have ups and downs. There are times when he’s been down, and there are times when we are down. It happens to every team, every player. People go through it.“I know what Kyle has told me. Kyle has been here working out – he actually just left – so I know what he has been telling me. I can only believe what he tells me, not the famous ‘sources.'”"
Lowry opted out of his final year with the Raptors after they were swept by the Cavaliers in the playoffs. After this news hit, the team’s president made it known that he wanted Lowry to return to the Raptors next season.
But can the Raptors afford to bring him back while also bringing back other important players? Lowry is eligible for a max contract and is expected to receive one from the Raptors. The contract would be worth around $200 million over the span of five years.
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Lowry has been with the Raptors for five seasons. In that time, he played 354 games and averaged 18.2 points, 6.8 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game.